Summer @ TheEdge

Parents and Students we want to keep you updated on all the things going on in the Edge Student Ministry. With Summer upon us there are tons of opportunities for us to grow closer to God as a family and as individuals too. 

This week we are starting a new series in Elevate at 10:45am called JUSTICE in which we will talk about what Justice really looks like, we will cover topics like bullying all the way to racial prejudice and human trafficking. This week we will look at Isaiah 1:16-17.

We still meet at 9:30am on Sunday's for Bible Fellowship -right now the High School students are currently going through the iamsecond series. You can find out more about that here -www.iamsecond.com. 

We also have a smaller mid-week gathering on Wednesdays at 6:30pm. It is a small group that meets here on campus and is led by our former Missionary Interns Derek and Melissa Glynn. 

Here are some updates for you so you know what to look forward to. For June our series for Elevate will be; JUSTICE

July; JUST BREATHE (we will look at what to do when life gets heavy). 

August; PROMISES (from God to us) 

September; SURVIVING SCHOOL. 

We also have an updated SUnday Night schedule for you. Our students will meet every other Sunday night over the Summer, the schedule is as follows; 

June 9: Dodgeball Tournament (fundraiser)

June 23: River Bandits Game

July 7: Duck Creek Park (cookout/ultimate frisbee)

July 21: Whitey's (ave of the cities/16th Moline)

Aug 4: Stephen's Park (Volleyball)

August 18: Lake Day @ Helm's (Tentative -we are still planning this event)  

Another important date to remember is July 15-19, we will be at Student Life Mission Camp at Wheaton College. It is our desire that every teen 7-12 grade attend camp as there is a ton of great bible teaching/preaching, fellowship, and truly living out the gospel on a daily basis. Please let us know how we can get your student there! 

For all the latest updates PLEASE connect with us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/edgewoodstudentministries and twitter as well www.twitter.com/EdgeStuMin

Please let me know if there is anything else I can answer for you.  We are not perfect here at Edgewood but we do work very hard to make sure

everyone that wants to grow in their relationship with Christ has every opportunity to do so. You can reach me by email at jeff@edgewoodbaptist.net or by phone at 309-786-7913.

Pastor Jeff 

30 Hour Famine

This weekend April 5th and 6th our students will be participating in World Visions 30 Hour Famine. I want to give you as much information in as little space as possible so pay attention :)

We are asking students to meet for breakfast with other students from their area.
Davenport students will meet for breakfast at Village Inn (5925 North Brady Street Davenport, IA) at 6:45am.
Moline/Rock Island/East Moline students will meet at Village Inn (2122 53rd Street Moline, IL 61265) at 6:45am.
Sherrard/Orion students will eat at home and pretend that you are at Village Inn OR come join us in Moline. (sorry)

Students will begin their fast at their lunch period. There is a sticker for students to wear and a informational booklet in their fundraising envelope with facts about world hunger that students can share with those around them that have questions as to why they are fasting.

Friday April 5th Schedule
6:30 pm -Meet at Edgewood/check in.
7pm -World Hunger Prayer Walk
8pm -Juice/Water Break*
8:30pm -Video/Discussion on World Hunger
9pm -Candlelight Vigil/Famine Cam
9:30pm -Dismiss Ladies for the night**

Saturday April 6th
8:30am -Arrive King's Harvest Ministries -King's Harvest Ministries 824 West 3rd Street Davenport, Iowa. Phone number: 563-570-4536
11:30am -arrive back at Edgewood -TRIBE Activity (receive new identity)/Meet and Greet
12pm -Activity (Water Walk) 
12:45pm -Juice/Water Break
1:15pm -Finger Print Banner 
1:30pm -Activity (Camp Football)
2:30 -Juice/Water Break
3pm -Activity (Scavenger Scramble)
3:30pm -Juice/Water Break 
4pm -Activity (Market Mayhem) 
5pm -Church 
6:15 -Communion/End Fast.***

*Students are encouraged to bring their own water bottles. We will provide bottled water as well as juice. Students can decide what type of fast they are doing i.e. water only or water + juice. 

**Students will need sleeping bags and pillows and shower necessities. Ladies will be spending the night at the home of Marty and Sheila Mills and Guys will be staying at Edgewood. 

***We will end our fast in the Ignite Room with Potato & Ham soup and sandwiches with fruit. 

Please email me with any questions you may have @youth@edgewoodbaptist.net

-Pastor Jeff 

Understanding Their Behavior

If there is one thing parents and youth leaders have in common it is their attempt to understand teenagers. I would submit to you that one of the hardest things to do is attempt to understand a teenager. Their are no guarantees on how a teenager will respond. But there are several things you and I can do to better prepare ourselves. First and foremost it is important that our expectations don't exceed our student's level. By doing this we often set ourselves up for discouragement and then failure.

Students will often have incongruence between what they believe and how they live. This can cause parents and youth leaders alike great discouragement. In order to combat this we must try to understand that living an effective Christian life is difficult for all believers, especially our students. Their culture is very high-risk and we must provide opportunities to keep them focused on a Christ-like walk.

The following is a list of examples of assets or things that keep teens out of high-risk culture:

-Family love and support
-Positive family communication
-Caring relationships with other adults
-Regular involvement in religious, positive, and community service activities
-Reading at least 3 hours per week
-Having boundaries, rules, and consequences
-Telling the truth even when it's costly
-Standing up for what they believe
-Building cross-cultural relationships

By helping students build-in these areas, we will be better equipping them to avoid the potholes of a high risk culture and turning their focus more toward spiritual things. When students build up enough assets, studies show that they are less likely to engage in destructive behaviors that often prevent them from growing spiritually.

These areas take time and cannot be used as a one time check list. We must put forth the effort necessary to continually build these areas in our students life. I would encourage all of us to create time in our schedules for these assets to become a reality in all of our households. Yes we may have to get creative, yes every house will look a little different in their methodology, and yes it may be a little frustrating but the end result far outweighs any amount of frustration we may experience. I have said this before but I believe it bears repeating, you and I are called to raise up the next generation of believers in Jesus Christ, we were never called to raise the next generation of football players, softball players, chess champions or any other activity related superstar.

Understanding teenagers takes time and effort, I hope you will find it a worthwhile adventure.

Pastor Jeff

Encouragement

One of the things that the Lord has really put on my heart recently is encouragement. So far, I have realized two things about encouragement: 1) Encouragement is powerful – with just a few words, we are able to affirm, refuel, and inspire others, and 2) encouragement is a gift.  I am blown away by the fact that we have the ability to use our mouths to build each other up.  We can be used by the Lord to communicate His love to His children!  Crazy!

When we encourage others, we are glorifying the Lord.  We are appreciating the unique ways that He has gifted His creation.  We are celebrating the fact that He uses sinners to do incredible things for His Kingdom.  Because encouragement is so important, we need to make sure that we are practicing it in our lives!  In order to make the most with this gift, we should keep a few things in mind when speaking to your student(s):

• Be specific.  Whether you have an incredible or not so incredible student they need you to be specific with them, don’t just say, “You’re doing a great job.”  Let them know WHY they are doing a great job.  Talk to them about the gifts you have seen them use.  Talk to them about the impact they are making in other students’ lives.
• Be authentic.  Don’t say anything you don’t mean!  Giving out insincere encouragement will quickly make your words useless.  Empty words are a waste of the incredible gift that the Lord has given us and can even be damaging to your students growth.
• Be thankful. A great way to encourage is to thank them.  Celebrate the awesome ways that the Lord has used them.  Make sure they know how much of a blessing they have been in your life.
• Be observant.  Capitalize on unique opportunities for encouragement.  Notice the moment when your student steps outside of their comfort zone on a serving trip.  Take the time to write letters of affirmation.  This also means that you are making sure you see those things that don’t often get praise, the actions that wont make them heroes, but matter in the long run of life.

Spend time in prayer about this.  Pray for the ability to look at others in the same way that Jesus looks at them.

I challenge you to spend some time thinking about the student in your life that needs encouragement.  Go out of your way this week to write them a letter or pull them aside for an intentional conversation.

-Pastor Jeff